This invention is concerned with tape dispensers of the kind used to apply a strip of a coating composition to a surface. The invention is described herein in relation to so-called correction tape dispensers which are used to lay down onto a paper surface a layer of thin material to cover a writing or typing mistake and hence facilitate correction of that mistake. However, the tape dispensers disclosed herein could be used for applying other coating layers to a surface. Tape dispensers have an applicator tip defining an edge around with the tape passes and which is used to press the tape against the paper surface. The tape consists of a backing ribbon, e.g. of paper or plastics, which carries on one side a continuous layer of the coating composition. When the tape is pressed against the paper surface by the applicator edge and the edge is caused to move over the surface fresh tape is drawn from a supply of tape contained within a body of the dispenser, as the tape passes around the edge the coating composition is transferred from the backing ribbon to the paper surface so that a continuous strip of composition is deposited onto the paper, and the spent ribbon from which the coating composition has been removed is drawn back into the dispenser body for storage until the entire supply of tape has been consumed when the used ribbon, or possibly the entire dispenser is discarded. The body of the dispenser forms a handle by means of which the dispenser is gripped in the hand by the user.
Due to their overall shapes and configurations, many correction tape dispensers are awkward to hold in use. In our prior patent No. GB 2275042 there is described a tape dispenser with a tape guidance arrangement enabling the dispenser handle to be so orientated relative to the applicator edge that the handle can be held in use in similar manner to the way in which a writing instrument is normally held. Thus, in use the dispenser handle can extend upwardly away from the paper in a direction inclined generally towards the user. This configuration makes the dispenser convenient and easy to use, but it has a drawback in that it is xe2x80x9chandedxe2x80x9d, meaning that a dispenser intended to be used while held in the right hand cannot be easily used while held in the left hand.
The present invention addresses this problem and as a solution it provides a tape dispenser comprising a handle within which are means for storing a supply of tape consisting of a backing ribbon carrying a coating composition, and backing ribbon from which the coating composition has been removed, an applicator with an edge around which the tape passes and arranged for pressing the tape against a surface to transfer the coating composition from the backing ribbon to said surface, the handle being coupled to the applicator to permit selective adjustment of the handle relative to the applicator edge between positions inclined in opposite directions with respect to a plane normal to the edge.
Most conveniently the handle is pivotally adjustable relative to the applicator between the positions which are most suitable for left hand and right hand use. A detent mechanism may be provided to retain the handle in the selected adjustment position during normal use, so that the user is not required to take special steps, such as tightening any parts, to secure the handle position.
In a presently preferred embodiment the detent mechanism is in the general form of a ratchet enabling the handle to be adjusted to any of several positions. In addition to enabling the dispenser to be configured to facilitate left or right hand use, this has the advantage of allowing the user to select a range of handle inclinations according to personal preference for convenience and comfort in use.
Because the handle is adjustable the areas from which the tape is fed to the applicator and to which the spent backing tape is delivered from the applicator, are not predetermined. The tape guide means are therefore preferably arranged to guide the tape through a position substantially coincident with the axis about which the handle is adjustable relative to the applicator. In this way the tape can be guided between the applicator edge and a position which is fixed relative thereto irrespective of the adjusted position of the handle.
Conveniently the tape guiding means comprises a pair of cylindrical rollers with their rotational axes parallel to the pivot axis and their surfaces spaced apart sufficiently to enable the tape to run freely between them.